Pakistan placed a northern province under emergency rule on Sunday, the president’s office said, following anti-government demonstrations by supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and armed group violence in the northwest.
The emergency move, invoked under two articles of Pakistan’s constitution dealing with security, grants the federal government sweeping administrative powers over the province.
An increased security presence could be seen in Peshawar, the provincial capital, on Sunday, according to an AFP reporter, and roads in other cities in the province also remained closed. Earlier reporting noted: Pak crisis: Shehbaz govt declares emergency, ends Imran Khan’s party’s rule in KPK PTI has been mobilising supporters to pressure the federal government over Khan’s imprisonment Earlier reporting noted: Pakistan on Sunday declared an emergency in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), suspending the provincial government led by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party amid deteriorating law and order and a growing confrontation with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government. Thousands of Khan’s supporters have been marching in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to demand his release and airing anti-government criticism fuelled by harsh economic conditions. The emergency move, invoked under two articles of Pakistan’s constitution dealing with security, grants the federal government sweeping administrative powers over the province. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a stronghold of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, and the PTI-led government there will be sidelined under Sunday’s extraordinary constitutional measures. The move strips the elected provincial administration of its powers, with the chief minister, provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants and advocate general required to vacate their offices.
Earlier reporting noted: President Asif Ali Zardari issued the proclamation under Articles 232(1) and 234(1) of the Constitution, citing rising terrorist attacks and a breakdown of constitutional machinery in the province.
President Asif Ali Zardari signed the order after recommendations “regarding the law and order situation, and the failure of negotiations with government delegations”, his office said. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said earlier the decision had been taken over the “deteriorating law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and… from the provincial government’s deliberate indifference in the war against terrorism”.
